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Global Invasion History of the Fire Ant Solenopsis invicta

2011; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Volume: 331; Issue: 6020 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1126/science.1198734

1095-9203

Marina S. Ascunce, Chin‐Cheng Scotty Yang, Jane Oakey, Luis A. Calcaterra, Wen‐Jer Wu, Cheng‐Jen Shih, Jérôme Goudet, Kenneth G. Ross, DeWayne Shoemaker,

Animal and Plant Science Education

The fire ant Solenopsis invicta is a significant pest that was inadvertently introduced into the southern United States almost a century ago and more recently into California and other regions of the world. An assessment of genetic variation at a diverse set of molecular markers in 2144 fire ant colonies from 75 geographic sites worldwide revealed that at least nine separate introductions of S. invicta have occurred into newly invaded areas and that the main southern U.S. population is probably the source of all but one of these introductions. The sole exception involves a putative serial invasion from the southern United States to California to Taiwan. These results illustrate in stark fashion a severe negative consequence of an increasingly massive and interconnected global trade and travel system.